Him And The Flower
by fluffypuppies
Summary: Cam has led his life of devoting himself to his work, not caring for anything else other than his "family", his friend, and his flowers. Since then, everyday had always revolved around the topic about flowers, making him not let his heart accept anything else. So what did he go through, in one normal spring day, when a certain flower entered in his life?
1. Someone New

**Summary:** _ **Cam has led his life of devoting himself to his work, not caring for anything else other than his "family", his friend, and his flowers. Since then, everyday had always revolved around the topic about flowers, making him not let his heart accept anything else. So what did he go through, in one normal spring day, when a certain flower entered in his life?**_

 **(The title** _ **Him and The Flower**_ **is temporary until I find a better title for the story. But if I can't think of anything else, that'll be the final title.)**

 **A/N: So this is my first fanfic that is focusing on the story of Harvest Moon: Tale of Two Towns (ToTT), so I honestly don't know what I should think of myself about doing this. But I had fun as I made this out of boredom, and decided to finally show it.**

 **This is based on ToTT, but not all scenes are canon, but beware to some readers who haven't played or finished the game yet, since I will still put some things that were shown in the game anyways.**

 **(Pairing here is Lillian x Cam, a ship that I find cute in my perspective, lol.)**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own the game! I wouldn't make fanfictions of it if I were the owner anyway.**

* * *

 **Chapter One**

 **Someone New**

* * *

"Hey! Have you heard of the newcomer?" Cam overheard when all three of them—him, Howard, and Laney—sat down around one of the tables in the café for breakfast. With Howard's delicious cooking and well-prepared tea, Cam was helping himself to a hearty breakfast, but his eyes now focused to Laney when she mentioned about the "newcomer".

"Ah, yes!" Howard said in a sing-song voice as he clasped both of his hands in a happy manner. "I asked Rutger when he left after guiding the girl to her new home. I think her name is . . . Lillian, I think?"

"Like a flower," Laney giggled a bit.

"Like a flower, indeed," Howard agreed. "Anyways, it turns out that she got hurt when she fell down from her horse, due to some wild fox startling the poor animal. So when Rutger of Bluebell and Ina of Konohana were in the middle of an argument, they saw her unconscious on the ground. Immediately, they tried to help her."

"Yeah," then Laney continued on where her dad left off. "They asked her where does she want to stay, and she said she chooses Bluebell, so now is her first day in Bluebell."

Both father and daughter then opened up a new conversation about their guesses of who "Lillian" is like—leading to Laney hoping she's a sweet girl, and Howard hoping more than his daughter that the new girl will be someone of professional skills in cooking.

But, for Cam, he doesn't give a single care of this "Lillian" person. He will focus only on his work than gossips of newcomers and more, so he decided to just go back to sipping his tea and let his thoughts wander off to planning what flowers will he display for sale today.

* * *

 **A/N: Chapters are short, but some might get longer in the future.**

 **Until next time!**

 **If I have enough free time (which I don't usually) I might update Mondays and Thursdays maybe...**


	2. First Impressions

**A/N: Another short chapter for this probably-gonna-be-short-series!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own the game! I own my life though!**

* * *

 **Chapter Two**

 **First Impressions**

* * *

Ever since the talk of the town about Lillian, Cam decided to avoid her the whole day since he knows he should be focusing more on his work. Besides, he doesn't care to approach the girl anyway, so he does not need to worry about introducing himself to her.

But, apparently, said girl approached him instead.

"Hello!"

What greeted him when he finally arranged the flowers and flower seeds on the table was a pair of bright eyes, twinkling as those eyes looked back at him which was also paired with a big smile on her face. He groaned silently to himself, knowing that, without a doubt, this girl in front of him is Lillian.

He sighed, knowing this encounter was going to happen, one way or the other.

"Hey, I'm Cam. I run a flower shop around here. Nice to meet you." Cam didn't bother to smile much since he's not used to doing it to strangers.

The girl, Lillian, beamed at him and leaned across the table and held out her hand to him. "My name is Lillian. Nice to meet you, too! Also, nice flowers by the way."

The man narrowed his eyes a bit when she was so dangerously close to squishing the flowers on the table, and how she is annoying him from his work. He's a flower vendor, not a businessman making negotiations or stuff.

". . . Could you please avoid from damaging my flowers. And if you're here to just talk than buy flowers, could you disturb me when I'm not working, please?" As he said that, he tried to hide the annoyed tone in his voice, but Lillian was probably sensitive and observant since she seemed to sense it. She immediately straightened herself and retracted back her hand.

"Oh . . . okay, sorry," she awkwardly smiled and turned to go back to her pony, but not before waving her hand to him. "It was nice talking to you! Hope we get along sometime!"

Then she got up on her horse and was off.

Cam sighed, relieved that he can focus back on work. But then he heard a _tsk tsk_ sound nearby his left. He turned to look at Howard nearby, leaning on the doorframe of the entrance of the Café.

"Really, Cam. That's not the best first impression of yourself that you should give to her! How can you expect to be friends with her if you're like that?"

 _Friends?_ Cam shrugged nonchalantly and went back to fixing the arrangement of his flowers in front of him. _It's not like I'm planning to be her friend anyways._

* * *

 **A/N: Yes, yes, it's short, but it'll be a bit longer soon. Besides, I'm promising two updates a week if I'm free enough, so that should make up for the short chapters right?**

 **Thank you sweeteners for the comment! I hope to not disappoint ^^**

 **Until next time~**


	3. Weird Enough

**A/N: I know the chapters are short and that I could just fit it in some of them into just one chapter instead, but when I first typed down this story back then, I only made short parts each day whenever I have enough free time, since I don't have much time to make long chapters in one sitting anymore.**

 **But I do hope you still enjoy! And again, not all dialogue is from the game, and is mostly based on my imagination.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own the game! But I want a cookie though!**

* * *

 **Chapter Three**

 **Weird Enough**

* * *

It was a Thursday when he saw something . . . weird to witness when he was having a peaceful time relaxing on his day-off.

Whenever it's his rest days like Thursday and Friday, he would love to have a peaceful walk going to the lake nearby town, maybe to watch the fishes swimming around playfully and the animals roaming around freely as if they have no care in the world, or just simply rest to his heart's desire.

He loves this. Alone time with nature, watching some flowers dance to the wind and the grass around him swaying as well. With the environment around him, he can truly have the feeling of solace of everything alive and vibrant around him. It's a great image of scenery to paint: everything full of life around a man resting by the pond in serenity.

Well, that's not the only thing that was showing _full of life_ , apparently.

He didn't know when Lillian came in the area, but there she was, chasing after butterflies. She's so full of life, in a way where she spends so much energy on just catching critters nearby, hand-catching fishes from the pond (somehow stuffing them in her dress pockets), and attempting to catch butterflies.

Sure, sure, maybe the sight of an active girl jumping around catching butterflies might even give a good scene worthy enough to be painted like the scenery, but what ruins the image is that instead of maybe a cute giggle from the said girl, there was just her shouting at the butterflies.

"GET BACK HERE! DON'T GET AWAY! NOOOOOOO!" With that, even some animals scamper away from her in fright.

Cam sighs. She's ruining his peace time, jumping around like a total idiot and shouting weird stuff to a mere butterfly. In fact, he does not consider it peaceful with her shouts tearing through the calm silence of nature around him like ripples on calm waters.

He heard more shouting from the girl when she finally caught the butterfly she was targeting on. But at the very moment that she was smiling to herself in victory of catching the insect, she so happen to glance at his spot, finally noticing his presence.

"Ah! Uh . . . hi, Cam! Didn't see you there!" She laughs nervously as she walks towards him. "So, why're you here?"

Cam, like last time, tried to hide his annoyance, but like last time as well, some of it was evident in his voice.

"On my days off, I like to take a walk here," he looked at her with a straight face. "It's so _peaceful_."

 _And apparently it's no longer peaceful,_ Cam would have said that as well, but judging from Lillian's slight blush and guilty look, he knew Lillian got the message. She did another nervous laugh.

"Sorry about that!" Lillian rubbed the back of her neck in embarrassment, a smile and flushed cheeks still displayed on her face. "I'll keep that in mind to not disturb you on your walk here next time!"

Cam sighed and got up from his spot, then left Lillian and the used-to-be peaceful scenery behind as he took the path leading back to the town.

 _That girl_ , he thought, _she just plays around rather than to work. She shouldn't slack off. Instead, she should do something more productive instead._

He shook his head, ridding any thoughts of the weird girl and finally decided that all he really wants is to head off to bed now.

 _Seriously, let me go back to those peaceful times . . ._


	4. Giving Gifts

**A/N: Another chapter! And this time, it's a bit longer than the others now. Of course, there will still be some chapters that are short I think, but there will be some chapters in the future that will probably be a bit longer than the usual, so yeah.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own the game! But if I do, I'll correct the mistake that it's not a "vase" that's in your house, but a "basket" for Pete's sake! (Do you get what I'm talking about?)**

* * *

 **Chapter Four**

 **Giving Gifts**

* * *

 _Spring Harmony Day_

That's what was written on her calendar when she got up from bed to check it. According to what it said, it's mentioned that it's the day when boys give chocolates to girls, which partially dampened Lillian's mood.

To be honest, she did feel excited and can't stop hoping that at least one boy would give her chocolates soon (but she has an inkling of a thought that she probably won't be receiving one anyway since she's not that great), but she finds it more fun if it's something that she can participate such activities as well and that she can give gifts too, despite her still overcoming her slight shyness to almost everybody.

After all, she did make a promise to the Harvest Goddess that she will try, in any way possible, to unite the two towns . . . even if she's not over the thought of why can't the entity, herself, help her with everything.

Oh well! _Guidance_ is better than nothing at all, anyways.

She quickly fed her pets, left some food for her barn animals to eat, watered her plants, prepared her horse and cart, and then was off to the mountain to look for probable things she can give the boys as gifts.

"Ash!"

She called out for the young farmer by the fence that keeps the said farmer's animals from escaping. When she shouted, Ash turned away from the lamb he was busy brushing and gave a bright smile to her.

"Good 'noon, Lillian!"

He kept the brush in his pocket and walked towards her, the smile never leaving his face. "So, what brings you here?"

Right as he said that, she held out something in her hand to him. It was a Magic Red Flower. (She's pretty sure that's what it was called when she asked Cam for its name few days ago.)

"I'm sorry it's just one and not much," she said. "Since I don't have that enough money to buy a better gift. But . . . Happy Spring Harmony Day though!"

For a good few seconds, Ash was silent for a while, but when he got over the surprise he gave a hearty laugh that made her cock her head to the side in confusion of what's funny.

"Sorry for laughing," but he continued laughing anyway. "But you do know that it should be the boys giving something to the girls today, right?"

"I know," Lillian replied. "But I got bored and there was nothing else to do today, so I wanted to also give gifts to the boys here in Bluebell and Konohana. I'm already done giving presents to the guys—especially Rahi—in Konohana. After my trip to Konohana, I rushed back here to give to all the men in Bluebell. Now, the last in the list are you, Howard, and Cam."

Ash gave one last laugh before waving goodbye to her as he walks back to the lamb he was busy brushing a while ago. (If she recalls right, the name of that lamb is Snow.) "Whatever you say, Lillian. Thanks for the present though!"

The girl waved at him as well and dashed off to Howard's Café where she knows she'll find Cam by his flower stand like usual and Howard in his café. As expected, the florist was there where she expected him to be, and she was _just_ in time too, since he was already putting away the flowers to close his shop already.

"Cam! Cam, wait!" She called out to him, got off her horse, and tried her best to hide his gift behind her back as she runs the short distance to him while also attempting to not crush it while running.

The florist turned his head to her direction, and she didn't miss that annoyed look on his face before he wiped it off and gave a straight face to her.

There was a pause before he spoke up, "Yes?"

Out of breath, Lillian finally reached his stand, a hand over her heart as she tried to gulp in some air with Cam looking at her with an eyebrow raised. When she guessed that she's final already, she stood up straight and held out his gift to him.

"This . . . This is for you."

She held out the best Chamomile she was able to find on the mountain when she was looking around for a possible gift for Cam. Based on her knowledge of the florist, she _definitely_ knows how much he loves flowers, so she decided a flower will work well as a present for him. Thus, she found the prettiest Chamomile she discovered near the waterfall, one of her favorite spots on the mountain yet.

Nervous, she held out the flower in silence, trying her best to not mind her sweaty forehead and hands as Cam just silently stare at the flower as if he's wondering what to do with it.

"Um, thanks?"

Her spirits dropped that instant. She didn't expect that kind of reaction after what she did to find him a gift.

As for Cam, he saw that Lillian's eyes were starting to shine a bit, indicating the tears that were starting to form and is ready to pour out of her eyes if enough is made to come out.

 _Wait, what did I do?_ Cam thought as he stared wide-eyed at the girl. _She's giving me a present, and now she's crying?_

At that moment, he finally noticed Laney looking out of the window of the café and watching the whole scene happen from the inside. She had this frown that had one clear message that Cam understood from her without her needing to say it out loud.

 _That's not how you accept a gift! Say it in a better way!_

Cam was unsure of what she meant at first, but then he realized maybe it was the way he responded to Lillian that made her feel like crying.

 _Oh_ , he thought. _So that's why . . ._

He sighed to himself softly.

He loves flowers, yes, but Chamomiles aren't really in his list of favorite flowers, even if almost every flower out there are his favorite.

But . . . since Lillian looked hurt—

He sighed, _again_ , before gently taking the flower from her. This caught her attention. (Thank the Harvest Goddess that stopped her from forming more tears in her eyes!) He examined the Chamomile, trying to think of something to say to make it seem like he appreciated the gift. He tried a small smile.

"Err, for me? Thanks . . ."

The florist mentally slapped himself for still not saying it better, so he tried to search in his brain for more words to he can say.

"I'll—err, I can try and add this to a bouquet and place this in the vase in my room. Thanks."

Well, a tad bit better now, but not much. Fortunately, it probably was just enough since the girl sniffed a bit before smiling at him—the kind of smile that showed pure joy and can probably give light to the darkest of night.

"I'm happy you like the gift!"

He instantly felt this kind of warmth swirling inside his chest then spreading to his whole body.

There's that smile. For Cam, it doesn't seem any different from the other smiles she gives on the previous days they talked, but for some reason that certain smile she's giving to him at that very moment made his heart skip a beat.

 _What?_ He questions himself what was the feeling he's having, but he didn't even notice the slight blush that formed on his cheeks. By some unknown instinct, he pulled down his hat a bit to cover a bit of his face.

Lillian then turned away, and he watched as she quickly walked over to Howard, who was nearby and so happen to see the scene, and hand him a flower as well. After that, she started jogging over to her horse, but not after she waved goodbye to him.

"Happy Spring Harmony Day, Cam!" Then she's off.

He narrowed his eyes to her retreating figure in question.

 _Isn't that day supposed to be celebrated by boys giving chocolates to girls?_

He saw Howard smirking at him, but he's in no mood to ask what in Bluebell is he thinking in his mind right now. So he shrugged it off, ignored the big man, and went in the Café . . .

Not before receiving a lecture from Laney about a woman's heart.


	5. Feeling of Giving Up

**A/N: Well, at least chapters are getting a bit longer now. Not too long though, but I guess enough for it to be not too short to read.**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own the game! But I did draw the cover of the story since I didn't feel like going to Google Images and search up some random picture...**

* * *

 **Chapter Five**

 **Feeling of Giving Up**

* * *

Lillian remembers there used to be a saying that aiming for failure will bring you back to the top and lead you to success—

But if that's the price for success, then why does it hurt so badly?

In tradition, Bluebell and Konohana always held Cooking Festivals to compete and show off which town has the best chefs with their best cooking. There are different categories, which are Salad, Soup, Main Dish, and Dessert.

She heard from the Harvest Goddess that maybe if Lillian—for some reason—won several times in the Cooking Festivals, then she might bring the two towns to be closer and become friends like how it used to be.

Again, she does not know how that works, but since she's prompted by the goddess—herself—to do just that, then she probably must heed her orders.

Unfortunately, she never knew how to cook. Not even baking.

Before she started living in Bluebell, she lived in the city where she just mostly bought herself ready-made food where it's not required to cook it. Now that she's given the challenge to try participating such festivals, she has _no_ idea of what to do.

So when the day of the Cooking Festival for the Salad theme came, she chose to not join and just cheer.

Sad enough, they lost and Konohana got the victory.

Everyone went back home, with sadness hanging around them like thunder clouds following them, and Lillian felt bad that she couldn't do anything. Some even asked her that it would be great if she could try to participate the festivals next time.

She would want to, yes, but she does not even know how to cook.

Then days passed by until it is finally the Festival for the Soup theme. And like last time, they lost to Konohana.

People of Bluebell went home with another depressed feeling in their hearts. They also prompted her, again, to join the festivals. But she answered them with silence, knowing full well that if she joined them, it would make them regret asking her to join in the first place.

Now, another festival came and went—the theme was Main Dish, if she recalls right—and people of Bluebell groaned when they found out they lost _yet again_ to Konohana. So, like the other times they lost, they head back to their respective homes with frustrated frowns or sad faces.

Lillian doesn't understand herself of why would she think it would still be a good idea to talk to them about the loss even if she knows they will just say the same thing all over again, but she did it anyway.

Now she regrets even entering their houses since what happened next hurt her feelings.

When she entered the home of Ash and his family, she went over to the sad-looking Cheryl and rested her hand on her. "Cheryl, don't be sad now . . . maybe we'll win next time."

Cheryl then shrugged off Lillian's hand off her shoulder and pouted as she looked away from her.

"You were cheering for us," she looked like she was on the verge of tears. "But we still lost! Too bad!"

Lillian stepped back from Cheryl, stunned from the little girl's outburst. Then, from beside her, she heard Jessica muttering under her breath, but Lillian heard it.

"Well, we lost . . . If you'd been a bit more supportive, we—"

The mother then took notice of Lillian's eyes on her, so she wiped away any grief that was evident on her face and just smiled sadly at the girl farmer, "Oh, nothing , dear. Never you mind."

Lillian stared at Jessica with wide eyes. So far, Jessica had always been so nice to her since day one of her stay in Bluebell, but for her to be the object of Jessica's frustration . . . Lillian feels guilty.

Of course, Ash came in to the rescue and tried to comfort her by saying that he'd love to try Lillian's cooking next time, but she was already off and heading over to Grady's home.

She instantly regretted it.

"Were you really cheering?" Were the first words Grady said when Lillian came by his home, "Then why'd we lose?"

But, just like Jessica, he then realized his words and attempted to sigh, to release all the anger he held in his body out of his system.

"I don't mean to take it out on you. I'm sorry."

Despite his apology, the damage was done.

The guilt is taking over her heart now.

She was meaning to stop by Howard's Café next to talk with Howard and co., hoping they'd be nice to her, but she dashed out of Grady's home, with a concerned Georgia calling out for Lillian to come back.

Her heart hurts. The guilt is just too much. She HATES herself for not doing anything to make anyone happy.

She ran to the mountains, trying her best to not cry.

 _Why_ , she questions herself. _Why can't I make anyone happy?_

Jessica . . . Grady . . . Cheryl . . .

They're all wonderful people, but _she_ disappointed them. And what made it worse is that they couldn't completely release their anger on her since they're too nice for that. But she still feels like it's her fault for not being better.

She bit her lip, preventing a sob to escape.

It's her fault.

What's the point of starting a new life in a new place when she's no different from the Lillian back then when she still lived in the city?

" _Lillian! Why can't you be more like your friend?"_

 _Why . . ._

" _She's so pretty, and she's more successful . . . why can't you be like her, Lillian?"_

 _Why, indeed._

" _Lillian! Don't be like your brother and try to be better than him!"_

 _Please . . ._

" _Ew, is that her? I don't think she's a girl if she finds fun in catching critters! Gross!"_

 _Please, stop._

" _Lillian . . . I want to be proud of you, but you're not giving me any reason to be proud of my own daughter right now."_

 _Sorry._

" _Ugh! I wish I gave birth to someone BETTER than you!"_

 _Make the pain stop . . ._

" _You're a disgrace to this family!"_

 _No more . . ._

" _Why don't you just go jump off a building for all I care! As long as you do me a favor and disappear from the face of the Earth, then THAT will make me so happy."_

 _Why._

 _Why can't I be perfect? Why does the world only revolve around people who are perfect? Why can't it revolve around a failure like me? I just want to make them all happy._

 _I'm sorry._

 _I'm sorry for not making you happy._

 _I'm sorry for ever being born_

There, the girl farmer sits by the Harvest Goddess' spring, watching the moon reflect on the surface of the water as she hugged her legs towards her chest. Her heart hurts. Anger and grief cages her mind as she allowed tears to slowly roll down her cheeks.

"I'm sorry."

She whispers as the animals and humans all went to sleep, not aware of one troubled heart . . .


	6. Lift You Up

**A/N: To make up for the angst in the last chapter, here's something that will** _ **probably**_ **help you all. (No guarantee if this is enough to help you guys, but I tried anyways TwT)**

 **Also, two updates will be given today since I will be busy next week, so yay!**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own the game, and neither do you… I think.**

* * *

 **Chapter Six**

 **Lift You Up**

* * *

Usually, whenever they lose at the Cooking Festival, Cam would always find Lillian invited in the café to help Laney comfort a sad Howard from the loss. However, something definitely was wrong with her when she didn't come to the café that night to comfort Laney's emotional father. Not just that, but she usually would always visit the town to greet everyone in the morning before she heads off to . . . wherever that girl heads off to after a nice conversation with everyone. But ever since that night of her strange behavior, she'd been going to town less and less, to the point where it's like she disappeared from the face of the Earth. She even stopped giving gifts to everyone, which definitely makes it quite obvious something is bothering the girl, since she _loved_ giving gifts to everyone.

This doesn't really bother Cam much, since he has to focus on his work, but what bothers him is that either Laney or Howard (or both) would stay by his flower stand, since he would mostly see them together as they voice out their thoughts that they're worried that something must have happened to cause this Lillian's unusual behavior.

Later in the morning, Ash came by to talk to Cam, like every other days when he's not working and decides to talk to his florist friend.

"Good morning, Cam! Do you so happen to know where Lillian is?"

Cam didn't bother to look up from his work as he arranged some flowers to make a Red Bouquet. "No. I have not."

Ash sighed as he leaned on the table, Cam making sure he does not squish any flower. "Man, I'm worried for her. She hasn't showed her face for a while now. But please do tell me if you see her, Cam! I want to make sure she's alright."

The florist nonchalantly shrugged his shoulders as he finished tying a ribbon on the bouquet and give it to Rose—the mayor's wife, whom she came to order one bouquet to decorate her room with. "Here you go, ma'am."

The old woman thanked him kindly for helping and went on her way, with Cam taking his seat to rest his legs. As both boys bathed themselves in silence, Ash raised up another topic.

"You know, I like Lillian."

Cam allowed one eyebrow to lift up as he looked at his friend questioningly. "Uh, good for you? What's with you telling me that suddenly?"

Ash gave a short chuckle before staring up at the cloudy sky. "I don't know, but I like how hardworking she is."

Cam narrowed his eyes at Ash with the look of disbelief. "Hardworking? Her?"

His friend peeled his eyes away from the clouds and turned them to face Cam.

"Well, it's the truth. You just didn't pay attention to that side of her just yet," then Ash smiled. "Also, remember the Request Board?"

Cam nodded his head, Ash continued.

"Well, usually, there are those times where only few or no requests would be taken up by someone to help the person in need, so that's why some requests are left unsolved on the board, and it starts collecting dust until someone takes them down. But ever since Lillian came to town, I'd always see her go check the board for requests every morning, and fulfill each and every one of them, most of the time doing _everyone's_ request!

"That's why . . . with the pressure of still getting used to this place and taking care of a farm by herself—she already amazes me that it's one woman, alone, who's taking care of such responsibility!—I can imagine she would always come home _really_ exhausted, but she always set aside enough time to talk with everyone."

Ash looked down on the ground, a troubled look splattered all over his face.

"I hope she's okay . . ."

Cam just stared at his friend in silence, letting his speech about the girl farmer sink in.

 _So that's why I seen less notes on the board nowadays_ , he thought to himself. But now that he recalled the previous days, he had always thought Lillian was always slacking off by playing with the animals and catching insects around the areas on the mountain. However, what if she wasn't playing around that time? What if she was literally doing her work and catching critters for people's requests? He remembers that there are those requests where people, like Cheryl, would ask for someone to give them certain kinds of bugs that they want.

 _So she's more hardworking than I thought she'd be._

Before he could think anything else, Ash got up and started walking over to the café, "Well, I want to see what Laney baked for today. I'm hungry!"

When his friend disappeared, Cam was then left to his thoughts.

 _She always come to look at the requests on the board_ , he pondered. _But if she's now visiting the town less frequent than before, what made her to suddenly stop working?_

Cam thought it over for a while, making some guesses, then he remembered that the weird behavior started _after_ their loss from the Cooking Festival.

 _Wait a minute . . . was she hurt that we lost that time?_

But that thought seems impossible since she doesn't seem like the kind to be really depressed from losing, since he remembers those times that when they lost and that Howard will be under the weather by then, she would have this comforting and determined smile directed to him as she says that they _will_ win, for sure, next time.

She never let defeat bring her down all those moments of loss, so what made this strong girl break?

Unfortunately, that mystery will have to be solved next time since a customer came to request a bouquet.

* * *

Finally, his day-off came when Thursday rolled by.

The usual days of his day-offs ever since Lillian came to live in Bluebell would be spent with him _trying_ to enjoy his peaceful times despite Lillian appearing all of a sudden in the middle of catching fishes and critters. But today, it was quiet. The scene was lacking its usual hyperactive-bug-catching girl today.

Yes, Cam had been wishing for peaceful days where she won't be there to come, but for some reason . . . the missing girl in the scene made the place feel so . . .

Empty?

The florist shook his head. There's _no_ way he's actually admitting that he misses the girl.

But why does he always turn his head, every once in a while, hoping to see if the familiar face of hers would pop out like the usual?

Night has fallen, and he decided to head home already—then he saw something.

No, not something. It's _someone._

And it's none other than the missing farmer of Bluebell.

Cam saw her walking up the mountain, trying to be silent as she can, but failing at that when she keeps sniffing at times. Is she crying?

The florist frowned. He knows he shouldn't be concerned for her, but something in him made his feet move to make him follow after her.

What was he doing?!

* * *

Turns out her destination was the spring found at the mountain top. He would have stepped nearer to her and present his presence to her, but he has a feeling he shouldn't show himself just yet. So there he was, hiding behind one of the bushes as he watches her sit down on the grass and hug her knees to her chest.

She was silent for a while, but she started speaking to herself later on.

" . . . Why me?" She rubbed her eyes and looked at the pond, as if she really was talking to the pond. "I always screw things up. I couldn't reach everyone's expectations, so why me—of all people!—why does it have to be me who has to find a way to make both towns unite again? I think there could be someone else who can do a better job at it than useless ol' me.

"I'm sorry, but I seem to make things worse. No one's happy, and it's all my fault. I'm probably making things worse with just my presence alone. Can't even do well since I'm such a worthless fool." She gave a small hiccup then a heart-wrenching sob. "Maybe it should have been better if I died from that fall . . ."

With those words, he felt a stab to his heart. Was this really what she thought all this time? He frowned to himself.

Was there really no one who knew about this? And if there was one, didn't they do anything to make her feel better?

Maybe the answer is no since she looks so broken right in front of his eyes. To think that she probably hid those dark thoughts of hers from anyone, maybe to avoid making anyone feel down from that.

He continued listening even though he thought he could just walk over to her and . . . he doesn't know, actually. It'd be awkward if he suddenly came to her and hug her from behind—

Wait! Of COURSE he won't just suddenly hug her! Why in Bluebell would he hug her when they're not even close friends or anything? And a boy hugging a girl would give the wrong idea rather than to comfort the other!

Well, he didn't need to debate with himself any further of whether to walk over and talk to her because later on, he then noticed that she suddenly fell asleep while she was still ranting about her existence. When he noticed this, he walked over to her sleeping form, noticing that for once ever since he saw her depressed face, she looks at peace.

Getting up from his spot, he walked over to her and kneeled down to have a better look at the sleeping girl, and saw the dark circles that are starting to form under her eyes.

He sighed. "I'm sorry," he gently whispered to her even if she's sleeping. "I could have comforted you, but I wasn't really sure of how to help."

He tucked a stray strand of her hair behind her ear, and he wasn't sure if he saw it right but he thought he saw her moving her face a bit towards his hand, and a small—and maybe sad—smile form on her lips.

The florist glanced up at the position of the sun, knowing that it is already five in the morning. He looked down at her, and started to place her in his arms. A relieved smile formed on his face when he found out that she wasn't so heavy after all, and then started his journey to carry her home, to her bed to have some sleep before she wakes up.

Even if he wasn't able to comfort her last night, he could at least bring her home rather than let her sleep outdoors, and maybe he can plan in the future of how to help her with her depression and anxiety.

"Don't feel too bad of yourself, Lillian," he found himself whispering this as he took a quick glance at her crying a bit in her sleep. "You're not worthless than what you think to be. Though, I'm sorry that I can't say this when you're awake . . ."

When he left the pond area, he was pretty sure he saw bright light from the corner of his eye, but when he looked, he saw nothing. Weird.

The Harvest Goddess was supposed to cheer up the poor farmer girl, but when she watched the florist of Bluebell—his name was Cam, if she can recall correctly—come over and picked up the now sleeping girl. The goddess immediately raised her hand up to her mouth and whispered an "Oh my!" as she witnessed the boy carry the girl away, probably to bring her home.

 _Like a knight_ , she thought.

When he left, she giggled to herself.

"Well, that was interesting!"


	7. Receiving Comfort

**A/N: Now, enough angst! Let's make this a bit happier than depressing already~**

 **DISCLAIMER: I don't own the game, because if I did own the game, then you would have known me already.**

* * *

 **Chapter Seven**

 **Receiving Comfort**

* * *

Another gloomy day for Lillian. It's the new cycle that she has created, since she lost the feeling of facing a day with a smile and trying her best to find a place to fit in Bluebell. The only productive thing she does everyday instead of doing people's requests is to feed her animals and water her crops. After that, she would go to the mountain top and lay down there, watching the clouds pass by in the sky, stay there and waste her precious time by being the waste she is.

Of course, she might as well get used to this kind of new life of being isolated and moping arohnd, so it didn't help that someone came to her one spring morning. To add to that, it was the last person she expected to come and pay her a visit.

"Hello."

The florist. The one who doesn't really care much about her.

"C . . . Cam?" Lillian cleared her hoarse throat. She just realized she never spoke since . . . that night.

Cam waved his hand in greeting to her, then gestured to the spot beside her. "You wouldn't mind, would you?"

Still recovering from the shock, but also not wanting to let Cam stand there for long, she nodded her head and scooted away a bit to give him space to be beside her. The man quietly took his seat, and both of them watched the flower petals of nearby trees flutter in the wind and, sometime soon, land on the surface of the pond's water, causing small ripples on it. Their silence would have continued on for forever, but Lillian is too curious to let her questions stay in her mind for that amount of time.

"Why?" She hugged her legs closer to her chest, a bit of her face hiding behind her knees. "Why did you come? You usually stay at the lower part of the mountain on your days off."

Cam didn't turn his head to her direction, but he did look at her from the corner of his eyes. "Am I not welcomed to accompany you?"

She flinched a bit and raised her hands up and waved them in front of her face. "N-No! I mean—I just—" Lillian sighed and looked down to stare at her toes. "Did you . . . did you come here to find me?"

No word was passed between them for a good ten seconds, until Cam replied.

"And what if I did?" He looked to the space between him and the girl and stared at a tiny flower that has yet to bloom. "It could also be that I suddenly want to go to this place than my usual, you know."

Lillian felt her shoulders sagged. _Of course,_ she thought glumly. _Cam would never think to care for a person like me._

Before the waterworks started to flow down from her eyes—she rather not cry in front of anyone, _especially_ Cam—she then heard him speak up again.

"You're a terrible person."

Her head turned to look at him, eyes wide with shock. What she saw was the young florist's head finally facing her, his rich green eyes staring back to nothing else but her own silver-grey eyes.

"Yes, you heard me right, Lillian," it was the first time he said her name, face-to-face with her. "You're indeed a terrible person."

Ouch. Her eyebrows scrunched together, her bottom lip wobbling, and tears finally started to form in her eyes. Sure, she did hope in the other days for someone who would finally say it to her face about how she isn't great at all, but it still hurt nonetheless. Before she could say anything else, Cam continued. Seems he wasn't finished saying what he wanted to say.

Those eyes—those pretty green eyes—gave a hard look on her, making her inwardly feel like hiding away in a dark hole under the earth.

"You're a terrible person, yes," then, strange enough, his eyes soften to something of the shade of green like green pastures. "But, Lillian, you're a terrible person for not realizing how wonderful you are."

A sudden touch. She felt his warm hand slide over to encase her cold ones.

"Tell me, Lillian, what is it you _really_ want to do to make people happy?" She bit her bottom lip, but he reassured her by giving her hand a small squeeze. "I won't judge. I know I haven't been treating you that well since we first met, but I can assure you that you can trust me."

He didn't need to say that. His eyes alone show that she can freely open to him without him criticizing or anything. The eyes are the window to one's soul, she guesses.

Lillian looked down at her free hand that was resting on the grass beside her. "I . . . I want to reach other people's expectations of me. It's . . . it's the only way for me to make them happy." Her hand then formed to a fist, "I failed to reach their expectations. Which is why I truly am a terrible person. Now everyone is mad at me, and I can never make them happy. It'd be great if I disappeared anyway."

She recalled her parents' words before she ran away from home, and a fresh batch of tears started forming in her eyes.

When can she ever make people happy?

What brought her attention back to Cam was when she heard him sigh.

"Do you really think your disappearance is going to make us happy? Last time I checked, Howard is being such a worrywart from your absence, Ash always walks around town in hopes of bumping to you, and Cheryl keeps wondering wherever her 'partner in crime' vanished to. And not to mention the ever growing concerns of the rest of us as we wait for the time we will get to see your face in town again."

The girl widened her eyes at what he said.

 _Everyone . . . was worried?_

He looked down to the small hand that was hidden in his, and gave it another squeeze. "You know, you've been burdening yourself by focusing on reaching other people's expectations of you. But know that everyone loves _you_ , Lillian, not the _you_ created from our own minds."

Lillian frowned, but not to Cam, "But . . . But what if my own self isn't enough to make them happy?"

When both of their eyes met again, she then saw a small smile form on his lips. But despite how small it was, it held warmth that could rival with the sun, or even the hottest star that ever existed in the universe. That very warmth enveloped her sad and dark heart, providing warmth that it never knew it was seeking for until her heart embraced it.

"You're being tied down from your own fear. Everyone here learned to love your true self—the self that bothered to fulfill the requests no matter how hard they were—the self who just _loves_ to talk with everyone despite how busy they were—the self who has the unselfish desire to help those in need even if they lack the power to help because they cared to not leave others alone." The wind picked up and made her hair fly around, but he reached out his free hand and tucked an annoying lock of her hair behind her ear. "Also, the self with a smile that can light up anyone's day. How could you say that a person with such a smile isn't wonderful enough?"

With the hand that held hers, he moved her hand to be near the small flower he stared at earlier, letting her fingertips stroke the small, but cute, soon-to-bloom flower.

"Continue being your wonderful self, because being yourself will make you continue to grow. With that, someday, you'll bloom to one _beautiful_ flower. Then when that happens, people will see that. They will realize they can't design the flower's appearance, for it was the flower who chose to be what it will be."

Cam let go of her hand, and she wasn't aware that she was saddened from the lack of his warmth. But then she felt the warmth touching her chin instead, gently raising up her head to look at him again straight in the eyes.

"So, Lillian," it wasn't a small smile this time. It was a bit wider now, and it made her heart skip a beat for a second there. "Please do raise your chin up . . . and smile for me, okay?"

The world then felt right at that very moment. Every part of her sadness that has stayed and sheltered both in her mind and heart was instantly washed away. Was it because of his words? Was it because of him alone? Whatever it was, she let her heart be healed from whatever pain she kept, and she didn't feel ashamed or embarrassed when she let the tears flow freely from her eyes and down her cheeks. But she had a smile on her face, and not a fake one.

"Thank you," she sobbed happily and wiped away the tears. There's no need for tears anymore. "Thanks, Cam. I think it wasn't that bad of an idea to let you sit with me after all."

He rolled his eyes to her. "You think?" But he was still smiling anyways, which when she stares at him as he smiles, a new feeling blossomed in her chest, and she wasn't aware of the warm feeling she feels in her cheeks as she returned the smile to him.

"Also, Cam, I feel like when you said all that, you made it sound like you know everything about me," she then gave a teasing grin. "Are you now being a stalker or something? You interested on me?"

She meant that as a joke, but then she saw Cam immediately looked away from you.

"Shut up."

What surprised her was the slight blush on his cheeks.

Cam? Blushing? Well, that's new.

She ended up giggling a bit.

And maybe cute.

He seemed offended by her reaction so he immediately stood up and walked away from her. Seeing how he responded, she started to laugh as she got up too and followed him.

"Cam! Wait!"

So they spent the rest of the day together before separating ways. But when she went home, she didn't cry herself to sleep this time.

 _Thank you, Cam_ , her mind whispers, _from the bottom of my heart . . . thank you._

* * *

 **A/N: Well, I tried. Had to listen to certain songs in order to get inspiration to make this chapter, so I hope this is enough.**

 **So, like I said, I'll be busy the next week so don't expect updates until when I come back hopefully around the week after next week.**

 **Thanks Sia Leysritt for the comment! I hope I fulfilled your wish for more interaction between the two, and also hoping it's good enough. I also hope this story continues to entertain you as it progresses ^^**

 **Until next time~**


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